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Yesterday I finally got to dive a special wreck that I have been keen to dive since its discovery in 2008, the German coastal submarine U 12. She was patrolling the east coast of Scotland in March 1915 when after sinking a 1,000-ton British steamship carrying a cargo of coal she was hunted down by three British destroyers. The following day, Aerial, Acheron and Attack sighted her on the surface and attacked. As she made to dive she was rammed near the bow. She then resurfaced and was engaged by British guns.

She sank with the loss of 20 crew and her wreck now rests upright in 50 metres in the Firth of Forth, North Sea.

Just back from a couple of weeks diving the famous Japanese WWII wrecks at Truk Lagoon in the Pacific, the world’s greatest collection of Japanese wartime shipwrecks. It has been quite a long time since a new WWII wreck was located in the lagoon, but I was priviledged to be taken out by Truk Stop Dive Centre to a new wreck only found at the tail end of 2018 and only dived once before, when it was first located. The wreck turned out to be an intact 300-tonne Imperial Japanese Navy salvage and repair tug. Four were known to have been present at Truk at the end of the war, 2 have been located previously, Futagami and Ojima. There is no wartime damage to the new wreck – and I suspect it was scuttled by the Americans at war’s end. Although its identity has not yet been established a plate in the engine room suggest the tug was built at the Kawasaki dockyard, Kobe.

The 1,931grt standard coastal freighter Gosei Maru was built in 1937 and requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1941. She was anchored off Uman Island in Truk Lagoon on 17 February 1944 as aircraft from the surprise U.S. Task Force 58 Operation Hailstone swept across the lagoon destroying Japanese fighter cover. She took an aerial torpedo hit from a USS Monterey torpedo bomber and began to roll over onto her port side. Being ‘light’ she sank quickly with no time for her lifeboats to be launched. She now rests on a steep slope with her stern in about 10 metres and her bow deeper in about 35 metres.

The Unkai Maru No 6 is one of the oldest wrecks in Truk Lagoon. She was built in 1905 in Newcastle, England as the SS Venus and had a long sea life before she was bought by Japanese interests and subsequently requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was dive bombed, set on fire and sunk by Task Froce 58 aircraft during OIperation Hailstone on 17/18 February 1944.See the video here;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4-kz8adalw&t=74s

The Japanese auxiliary transport vessel Momokawa Maru was sunk by a 1,000-lb bomb from an American Curtiss SB2 dive bomber on 18 February 1944 during the 2-day fast carrier raid, Operation Hailstone. She was set on fire, settled by the stern and rolled to port. Here’s the link to my YouTube channel for it – subscribe if you want to be notified of further wreck tours:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osfjs5g233Y&t=264s

The Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Oite had rescued more than 500 crew from the sinking light cruiser IJN Agano and was entering Truk Lagoon on 17 February 1944 – just as the American Operation Hailstone 2-day fast carrier raid began. Trying to evade the U.S. attack aircraft she was moving at full speed and turning to starboard when she was hit amidships by an aerial torpedo. She split in two and sank quickly with great loss of life. Here’s the link to the YouTube video tour – subscribe if you want to be notified of further videos.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xa48kKe86E&t=279s